Your Porcelain Neck
by Nape
Summary: The Marauders return to their fifth year at Hogwarts when Sirius discovers, or is discovered by, a mysterious girl who will break the foundations of stability for him.


A low, high-pitched sound trickled into the air…it grew louder, louder, then, suddenly, as if someone had turned up the volume a great number of dials higher, the screeching, pressing sound came to a deafening halt. A bright, red train, disgorging violent amounts of think gray smoke was parking at a cobble-stoned station, somewhere far beyond space and time, still sprinkled with puddles from yesterday's rain. The doors of the train flew open, spilling yellow, artificial-looking light into the gloaming. Voices were magnified, as well as masses of bangs, cracks, screeches, meows, croaks, and grunts. And amidst the pandemonium, four boys stepped out of the train.  
The tallest, a thin, grinning boy with flyaway hair of deepest black, a crooked nose, and hazel eyes stretched his arms and spat onto the ground. "Blimey, it's good to be back here!" he yawned, smiling and running a thin hand over his immutable hair.  
Another boy, not as tall and definitely more voluminous, with reddish-brown hair and a plump face (and body) squealed, "Hey, has any of you seen my copy of the Defense book? I just had it in—"  
And a third boy, this one with light, blond hair and a tired face opened his bag and produced a thick, leather-bound book. "Here you are, Peter, you left it in the compartment," he said, in a hoarse voice.  
"Thanks, Remus," said Peter gratefully.   
The tall boy laughed loudly. "You'll be forgetting you damn pants next, Wormtail, I swear."  
Peter (or Wormtail) joined in the laughing, loudly and vehemently.  
The last boy, almost as tall as the first, with a thin, haughty face stepped out, and shut the door behind him. This boy had black hair too, but his was tame and elegant, flapping over his eyes with a pompous grace.  
"Took you goddam long enough, Padfoot!" said the tall boy. "Spotted a girl or something?"  
Padfoot smiled. "Nah, just picking up a couple of gratuities from the snack cart."  
The boys laughed and trooped up to a dark carriage amongst many that were filing up rapidly with students. With some pushing, pulling, jerking, and co-operation, four boys, four trunks, one mouse and three owl cages fit comfortable inside it. As if being given a signal, the carriage started to move, at full tilt towards the castle, which was now lit by a million yellow windows. The moon was high up now, her reflection in the lake distorted by a large amount of tiny boats, each bearing a lantern, that were crossing its black surface. The boys did not see this, however, they were busy talking and joking and guzzling down the remainder of the sweets they had purchased on the ride (Peter doing most of the latter).  
"God, I hope they brought in some new library books this year," said Remus. "Do you know, there were only four books last year on lycanthropy? Four!"  
"Yeah, well, that's 'cause not every wizard's got themselves your furry little problem, Moony," said the boy named Prongs, smiling mischievously.  
"True," said Remus, "but shouldn't people also learn as much as they can about werewolves so they learn how to distinguish them from actual wolves? Or else learn how to treat their bites immediately? Shouldn't the wizarding society attempt to create a more stable environment by education, which can only be achieved by—"  
"He's got you with his smart-ass mumbo jumbo again!" laughed Padfoot, and he flung a small, red jelly bean playfully at Prongs…it sunk into the unfathomable depths of his hair.  
"Right, okay, that wasn't funny!" said Prongs angrily, running his fingers through his hair rather vigorously, trying to shake the bean out, while all of his companions laughed wildly. He gave up and merely laughed with them.  
"With any luck, Evans will notice it and pick it out," said Padfoot roguishly, stuffing the bag into the back pocket of his jeans, which were now hidden under black school robes, and he started on a Pepper Imp.  
The boys laughed, joked, talked, speculated on the return to Hogwarts. But they did not know—they could not know—that the reason Padfoot had been late was because he had indeed spotted someone...But he had only seen a glimpse of her, and was prepared to forget all about it; it wasn't as though she had anything special about her. But even he could not know that there was something different about this girl. And, without a doubt, this girl was the most special he would ever encounter in his life. Things were going to change…he just did not know it.


End file.
